Uh oh! Peter Bodo of Tennis.com has apparently been told by “reliable sources” that Roger Federer will withdraw from Indian Wells. ADHEREL

Sorry Federer fans, I hope this is just another unfounded rumor. Federer came down with this mysterious lung infection before the Dubai tournament. I think he picked it up on his trip to Africa earlier in the month.

The Swiss hasn’t played since his Australian Open triumph. In fact, neither has Rafael Nadal who is still on course to play at Indian Wells.

Federer, Nadal plus Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi are all scheduled to play in an exhibition there at the start of the event on March 12.

I will also add that Dinara Safina has also officially withdraw from the event. (Sorry, I’m too tired of writing these injury posts to make a separate one!!!!)

This is really turning into the Year of the Injury! I hope Peter’s wrong on this one!

I cannot put full trust into Peter Bodo because he said Roger was not going to play last year at Montreal either. There have been numerous reports that the Lung infection is pretty much gone, and that Roger is planning to go one week early to Indian Wells for practise. This bronchitis or mild pnemonia that was picked up three weeks ago is nothing compared to the mono from 2008. He has been on medicine for several weeks, and I believe he is going to play well in Indian Wells.

Fed on facebook: “I am feeling really good again and I was happy to hear from my doctor today that I have the green light to start working out again so I plan to try and play in Indian Wells next week. Thanks for the well wishes.”

RF just posted a Facebook status update: “I am feeling really good again and I was happy to hear from my doctor today that I have the green light to start working out again so I plan to try and play in Indian Wells next week. Thanks for the well wishes.”

What is so mysterious about a lung infection? Peter Bodo is a bottom feeder, tabloid journalist that likes sensational headlines. On his podcast he said something about the Federer camp playing possum or someting to that effect. He would really like it if the Federer camp had a press conference with his doctor, his radiologist, his pulmonologist and of course Roger’s CXR to explain the lung infection. Would he then believe that Roger has a lung infection and there is nothing mysterious about it. Mr. Bodo did not believe Roger’s Mono either. Maybe Roger should have his medical records made public. Geez.
I hope Roger and his camp makes wise decisions regarding his health so that he can play for a long time. Roger, please take care of your health, we want you around for a long time.

Normally I would agree about Bodo. However, this isn’t something he posted on his own personal blog. This is Tennis Magazines web site, which makes me think there’s some truth to it. Something like that doesn’t just appear in an email inbox and they just run with it (at least I’d like to think their different than a lot of news media outlets are today). This would have to go through a series of Editors before they stick their necks out to broadcast it. The item appeared in The Ticker section, which isn’t even Bodo’s. It’s normally Kamakshi Tandon’s responsibility .

Having dealt with media people in a professional capacity for a long time, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Tennis Magazine people knew all along Federer wasn’t coming to IW and only waited a week before the event to publicize it. One of their podcasts almost alluded to as much, when Bodo, Tignor & Martin said Federer contracted the same lung infection in Australia that had been going around. They even further said in the podcast that don’t be surprised to see Federer out for anywhere from 6-10 weeks.

Federer was probably asked to confirm all of this by Tennis Magazine a while ago and he probably confirmed off the record that he was unlikely to play – but to delay announcing it until he spoke with his doctor. And also so that IW could sell as many tickets as possible for the Hit For Haiti Exo on March 12th. Guarantee they would never have sold near what they have if it was known in advance Federer absolutely wasn’t coming. Having bought tickets myself, I was told they are unquestionably not refundable. So don’t be too surprised if Federer doesn’t show up at IW this year.

Quite obviously, one of them isn’t being completely forthcoming. Tennis Magazine has nothing to gain by running such an item without asking Federer himself – they all know him personally. Or if not him, they know his agent Tony Godsick (who exists for tasks exactly like dealing with the press on Federer’s behalf). It’s easy enough to ask either of them. And you can bet your life Tennis Magazine asked SOMEONE deep within the Federer camp before posting an item like this. They didn’t just put it there and hope it’s right.

So if Federer shows up and plays, it means someone in his inner circle lied to Tennis Magazine.

Texastennis:

Tandon has had her name as the compiler of that blog, The Ticker, for years. She freelances, but they gave her that because it’s fairly easy to compile. You just set your RSS Feeder for anything tennis, she gets up every morning & checks it, then posts tennis tidbits into The Ticker and collects a pay check to help her through Law School. Its easy money.

I think it’s hilarious if someone in Roger’s camp lied to Bodo. Considering how nasty Bodo was in his podcast last time, why should they give him a “scoop”?

Roger’s situation is pretty straightforward; he explained in Dubai he was ordered to rest for 2 weeks; after that he’d have medical tests to make sure he was recovered. It was already reported in the swiss press that he was going to the doctor for the tests today, so everyone knew there would be some news announced today or tommorrow.

Good news is test results were positive and Rog can start practicing; obviously he’ll have to see how he feels once he hits the courts.

It’s the tennis.com gang who’ve created all the mystery and intrigue for no reason.

Nobody is in Federer’s inner circle, and if they were it would not be Bodo. Trust me. I think Peter got some bad information, and I believe Roger has been over this chest infection for 3 or 4 days now. He will probably leave Friday to g train in Indian Wells for 1 week before he even starts the tournament making up for lost time. I think he will play much better than what we think he will, and may even win the tournament. This is not like mono where it takes months to regain energy and fitness. Roger will be back to Australian Open form in a matter of weeks.

nah, this is B.S. Luckily, here’s what Federer himself said on his Facebook page EARLIER TODAY:

“I am feeling really good again and I was happy to hear from my doctor today that I have the green light to start working out again so I plan to try and play in Indian Wells next week. Thanks for the well wishes.”

Peter Bodo has been wrong before and he’ll be wrong again. But based on the weight of the issue I would have to believe that Bodo would only release this information if he was certain and it was confirmed.

I don’t much about lung infections but what I do know is that Fed will not have to play for another 10 days or so, so there’s no rush in withdrawing this week when maybe the infection will pass in the next two weeks.

So based on what Bodo knows, I would lean to this infection being much worse than originally thought and his antibiotic treatment maybe takes him through Indian Wells.

Fed’s Facebook page is interesting and he’s basically giving the “all clear”. That said, someone is lying! Is it Fed or is it Bodo?

WTF do you mean “nobody is in Federer’s inner circle”? I didn’t say Bodo was in Federer’s inner circle, nor suggest it. Godsick is, and he is supposed to field press inquiries, among other things. That’s what Federer pays him to do. Or are you claiming to know Federer’s agent is under orders not to do things agents are paid to do, like, uh, well, take his calls for him???

What you “think” or “believe” doesn’t really matter. We’ll all know soon enough whether he’s in or out. You quote his facebook page as your source of information to negate what Tennis Magazine claims. But all Federer’s facebook page says is that 3 hours ago his doctor approved for him to start “working out”. Federer himself doesn’t say he WILL play IW; he says he will “TRY” to play IW. You say he’s definitely gonna play; he himself says he’ll try to play. So, do you know something he doesn’t???

And everybody knows Federer’s mono was a crock of BS. You cannot play any kind of tennis with real mononucleosis, period. Hell, you can barely walk to the bathroom & back with real mononucleosis! That’s why the tennis pros who REALLY had mono were actually OFF THE TOUR for various numbers of months: Ancic, Henin, Isner and the rest; unlike Federer, who had the only case of “mono” in history which actually allowed him to play in MORE events during his supposedly “mono” year of 2008 than the preceding non-mono year of 2007 (what a medical marvel that Federer is, aint he??). Federer was having nothing more than a huge confidence crisis, which began at the Australian Open of 2008. It took him a long time mentally to get straightened out – which he did by winning the US Open later that same year. It had nothing to do with “mono”, which was nothing but cover for him until he found his mojo again. Which he did :)

I don’t know why this is being turned into a bigger issue that it is? Why should anyone accuse anyone of “lying.” I don’t get it. Isn’t it just possible that Peter was misinformed?
Sean, why must you think somebody is “lying,” as if this was some kind of a Machiavellian plot? Get over it. There is no lying here, just plain old misinformation, which is a mistake anyone can make.

What his facebook page said is that he is healthy, he has the green light to start practicing again, and he PLANS TO PLAY INDIAN WELLS. Bodo says Federer plans to withdraw. Bodo is wrong. It may still turn out that Federer has to withdraw, but that’s not what he’s planning to do at the moment. And Federer knows Federer’s plans better than Bozo, I mean Bodo does.

But Twocents, there is a contradiction here, and it does kind of irritate me that Bodo is spreading around false information; intentionally or unintentionally. Remember what the original post says:

“Peter Bodo of Tennis.com has apparently been told by ‘reliable sources’ that Roger Federer will withdraw from Indian Wells.”

Federer himself says:
“I am feeling really good again and I was happy to hear from my doctor today that I have the green light to start working out again so I plan to try and play in Indian Wells next week. Thanks for the well wishes.”

Do we know whether or not Federer will play IW? No. He most likely will, but we don’t know for sure. But right now, he is planning to play it, and Bodo says he is planning NOT to play it. By saying Federer is intending to withdraw from IW, Bodo is wrong.

Roger is not flying from Zurich, Switzerland all the way to Indian Wells, California for a one hour hit with Sampras, Agassi, and Nadal. That will not happen my friend. Roger is not going to let everyone know he is “feeling really good again”, and that he has been “given the green light to start practising” to just pull out of the tournament. He has basically let the Indian Wells tournament know that he is healthy again and will begin training for the tournament. In fact if I was a betting man I would say he wins the whole thing.

Voicemale,

You obviously have a lot of inner demons you need to work out my friend. Roger did have mononucleosis and everybody knows it. He played 6 months of the year with it, and still held onto the #2 ranking at the end of the year. You are just still bitter about him becoming the GOAT, and winning the 2010 Aussie Open. Well, my friend if you are not a Federer fan than this ain’t gonna be the year for you. Trust me. What are you going to do when Roger wins the French Open again? Please say you do not think he will so I can feed you some crow after the tournament. Cheers.

If I was guessing I would say Roger will start lightly preparing in Zurich from tomorrow through Friday. He will board a flight with his team at that time, and fly to Indian Wells wherehe will spend Sunday through Friday the 10th of March training and getting used to the climate. He will look to make up lost time in that week. Remember Roger practised quite a bit after Australia in Dubai before he got sick. He only missed 5 or 6 days with the illness, because he would have taken a few days off after Dubai before he looked to prepare for Indian Wells. He is really not that off track at all. He will just be missing match practise which he will get early in the tournament. I would say Federer has felt good for the last 4 or 5 days Sean.

Sean Randall, actually Bodo is wrong. Again, look at the original post! Everyone seems to be forgetting that. Bodo says, AT THIS MOMENT Federer IS PLANNING TO WITHDRAW FROM INDIAN WELLS.

Federer says, AT THIS MOMENT, he is planning to PLAY Indian Wells.

He still might not end up playing, but at this moment, if you asked Roger Federer himself if he was intending to play IW, he would say “yes.” According to Bodo, if you asked Federer right now, he would say “no.” And that is why he is wrong. He only will not play if something changes. At this moment, he still plans to play IW.

The disagreement is NOT whether or not Federer is going to play, it’s what the CURRENT status of his plans are. That is the misinformation that Bodo is spreading. I’m sorry, I know I’m being redundant, but some people still don’t seem to understand what is really being said here.

The Olympics finished up in Vancouver Sunday with a dazzling display of Song, Fireworks and Flag waving of all the participating countries.

Topping of the ceremonies were the Canadian and American Hockey players still in Hockey uniforms beating the hell out of each other on the ceremonial stand of Olympic athletes. Breaking up the brawl, was the Women’s Sweden Curling Gold medal winners, threatening to throw curling “stones” at the Hockey players if they wouldn’t behave. Also stepping in was the the ” Pairs” Figure Skating gold medal winners saying ” at least you get to throw punches” , we only get to cry or yelp and pick up teddies, flowers and fall down once in awhile, dang, you guys rock!

In other ending Olympic news officials sent home the “Uganda” women’s “synchronized swimming team”. Officials said “you’re in the wrong Olympics, wait for Summer”. Disappointed, the team flew back to Uganda……

Bodo is a disgrace and it seems to me tennis journalists, as a whole,more than other sports journalists, sensationalize and create more phony controversies. I have no doubt that Bodo is just trying to make readers feel he has inside info ahead of the curve. It’s nonsense of course.

The truth is that Federer is honest with himself and his fans. If he is fully recovered he will play. if he is not, he will withdraw. Simple as that.

I don’t have to call a doctor to ask about such things as Fed’s alleged mono- there are plenty of doctors in my own family. And they all say the same thing: real monocleosis, when manifested, would never allow Federer to do anything, much less play tennis. You can show a slight rise in any given virus levels – that would be much less prohibitive. It’s also defintely NOT mononeucleosis.

Mononucleosis is most often attributed to an escalation of the Epstein Barr virus levels in the body. Not only does the virus attack your healthy cells, but it does so by “hiding” within your T-Cells, the very cells designed to combat infections like, well, mononeucleosis. That’s what makes the disease so insidious to beat, and it’s als what makes the disease so dibilitating with exhaustion. It basically destroys your immune system in total. Your cells basically have to repair themselves from the ground up. THAT’S why one cannot move in the simplest way without becoming exhausted. And it’s also why it takes SO LONG to recover from it. You literally have no defenses left once it hits you.

Federer never had this. He never missed a single event on his calendar after he announced publicly he had “mono” (right after the AO of 2008, where he had a 5-Set scare against Janko and a straight set smackdown from Djokovic). But he still showed up in Dubai 4 weeks after Australia, just like he always had before. Pronounced himself “fit & ready to play” in Dubai because his practices were going well (which would have been impossible with real mono). And then promptly loses his first match to Murray in Dubai. And what does he do? If he really had actual mononucleosis, only rest would have helped him recover from it. And rest would have actually been the only thing his body would have permitted. We’re talking about a virus here, and moreover a virus that limits you physically the more you exert yourself while you have it. The mere fact he was able to show up and play, hell that he could even walk around, shows that he had no such thing as what the world understands to be true mononucleosis. Onward he continued to play, without missing one single event: IW, Miami, Estoril, MC, Rome, FO, Halle, Wimby, Canada, Cincinnati, USO. No such schedule would be possible if someone had real mononucleosis. That’s why Ancic, Henin and others were basically off the tour for months. They had real mononucleosis, and they know full well Federer had no such thing.

I’ll grant that he may have had something, but in no way was that something mononucleosis. And by the way, a “mild” form of mononnucleosis is what the world typically calls “influenza” (another type of virus from the same virus family). To say the flu debilitated Federer for 6 months is a stretch no one with any sanity could make seriously.

Yes, my thoughts exactly. While the ticker story had been removed last night, there was still a news link one could click on on the TENNIS website – that link is now gone. Looks like Bozo mucked things up. No surprise there.

I quit reading bozo long ago. he’s a clown trying to get attention, any kind of attention: negative/ positive. he loves to write something, anything to get a debate going. his favorite fare is serving some nonsense to bring on the fedfans and those sick of federer. it’s all too stale and cliche by now, bodo. move on.

voicemale1 is as usual, uninterested or too blindly biased and self-satisfied on the subject to grasp understanding mono. and it’s pointless to try with those like him, who have cemented themselves so firmly. he is not alone. but the fact is, it’s a narrow perpective on the subject. so, when he and others comment about mono, their comments are bound to come out sadly unintelligent.

otherwise, voicemale1 you come across as a respectable, knowledgeable tennis poster. i really mean it voicemale1. i learn from and enjoy reading your posts. but on your mono opinion? it’s not informed well, sorry. *smiley face*

and doctors are not the be all , end all authority on the subject. they are human and subject to bias as well and tend to congregate themselves around an opinion with others sharing their opinion.

doesn’t make the opinion true. in fact often, just the opposite.

EBV, HPV and the likes are still not fully understood, since they change all the time. i hope you and your family, voicemale1 are more open to new information and individual differences when it comes to those having these diseases.

Voicemail1, you really should go t medical school. You are just so smart about mono. I had mono, took me three years to get my energy back. I still went to work, took care of my family, went for my worouts, though I was never able to be as consistent. I had good days and bad days. Roger happens to be a great athlete, and together with his will to compete, he decided to play in all the tournaments. To do that he gave up his practice sessions. But, it does not really matter. The ROger haters will not believe anything anyway, even if Roger made his medical records public. It’s not like ROger cares what you believe.

I hope he is being smarter about his lung infection, taking the wait and see approach. This is only the beginning of a very long tennis season.Sometimes, you have to take it one day at a time and make the best possible decisions for yourself because it is his life and his career we are talking about.

And yes, Voicemail1, I have medical training. You can interpret that anyway you want.

Roger Federer loves tennis — he loves to play, he loves to be with the other players, he loves the game. If he can play, he will. Look at his record — he’s only pulled out of a few tournaments in his career. It great that a little news regarding Roger Federer can still generate a flurry of comments.

Voicemail1 is an idiot. Nobody believes anything he says. I will go on record and say that he does not have anybody in his family that is in the medical field. He just lies for the sake of lying. A little like his hero Bodo in that sense. The reason Roger said he would try and play is because nobody including Roger knows how his body will react to getting back into the swing of things. He obviously feels great again because he would not have said that if he didn’t. I personally believe he is going to feel great on the court, and will be raring ro go in Indian Wells. Cheers.

After the onset and healing process, it can take 2-3 months to get rid of serious “fatigue”. For me, I continued to work AND play tennis as soon as I thought I was better, still very fatigued, and did not feel well for months when I should have rested, as per DOcs orders. I still functioned and played tennis. I have no idea what Fed did, when he got it, but if you don’t rest the fatigue can and does last for several months. I also am not in Fed’s head about why he said he had it when he did, why he still played, how could he play, etc, etc etc.. What’s the point?

Having said all that, I am done arguing with you on “THE FED MONO CONSPIRACY”, this topic is so yesterday and irrelevant now, WTF?

I really don’t care what happened, I am not his Doctor or family member, so unless you really insist on wanting to call him a liar and prove it go ask him yourself or have call his Doctor…

His domination of his sport in his era, his 16 and counting GS titles, his peers claiming him GOAT, is what the history books will remember him by. Nobody looks back in the record books for
“how many people claimed they had Mono”

well voicemale, I have to tell you – I’m no doctor BUT, I HAVE had mono – glandular fever – and had my ups and downs throughout it and am NO athlete. Sporty, yes, but of epic proportions like the fed? No.

So please, really, dont even go there saying that federer’s mono was BS. There was a statement by his doctor confirming it. So you are saying his doctor is full of BS as well?

I just dont believe that anybody could be THAT obtuse, you want to believe what you want to believe, that’s up to you. Like Contador said (who is a qualified doctor/nurse of EPIC proportions, dude!, read her post and LEARN.

As for whether or not Federer will at IW, I think we just have to read fed’s statement on facebook. He is going to “try” and he will “practise” and see where his game is at. If he feels his practise is a hundred per cent, then he’ll go for it, but if he feels it’s just not quite there, I think he will use the time to “practise” even more, and then come back at Miami.

I liked the comment about IW being “dry heat” and this would be good for the lungs, so am certain that fed’s doctors would have advised him already.

Roger will do that, Roger will not do that, Roger is going to do that, Roger’s not going to do that, Roger would definitely have done that, Roger definitely wouldn’t have done that… Federer’s personal doctor, mentor, manager, friend, and whatever else (aka tennisfan#1) once again spoke out… LOL :-)

Why does everything have to be a serious debate about whether a certain player really is/was sick or injured.They are human and get sick. I just hope both Roger and Rafa play this tournamnet as \Dubai was soooooooo boring.
Also good luck to Tommy Haas after his hip surgery, that is if he’s really injured or faking it…GEEZ!

sar, I hope you’ll give us some “behind the scenes” accounts like you and tenisbebe did at Cincy last year; that was great!

——————————————–
I have not had mono and I am no expert on it. I know / have seen only two people with it. My brother had it in high school (kissing disease, tee hee) and he didn’t get out of bed and missed 1 month of school. He also lost a lot of weight. In fall 2008, one of my students had it and couldn’t come to school (or do work) for 3 weeks, but he bounced back and managed to finish the course, looking quite like himself by the end of term.

hahaha. yes. mono is the kissing disease as Jane said, and can be “caught” through the saliva- even by spitting (if you are within “spitting” distance). I dont know how I got it, just know that whilst I could still function, my energy levels were low and i had swollen glands, but got through it. people can have it in varying degrees, but it does stay in your system for up to 12 months. check it out on the medical website, if you want more proof.

just glad that federer “appears” to be ready to practise at least – after that – we shall just have to see.

Why is everyone trying to second guess Federer and his camp? The man indicated earlier that he would follow his doctor’s orders (or words to that effect). I would love to see Roger play; however, if he is not well, he won’t. If he is well, he will. I don’t think this so-called “relaible source” even exists.

Roger is the only one who truly knows how he feels in the few days after starting his practice sessions. Has no one ever got over even mild flu like symptoms and felt they can take on the world and realize otherwise. He may ned to take more time off or he may feel perfectly fine. It is his body, his career and he is the one who knows(together with his doctor) what is best for him, and there is no conspiracy theory, or playing possum or any stupid theories people may have. I hope he does play IW, but I am prepared to have him take more time off to heal completely so he can be in optmal health for the rest of the tennis season

I think if we apply this discussion to other players who have “Injuries, or Illnesses”, we would find a WHOLE LOTTA other stuff to talk about. NO?

I say leave the guy alone and hope he is well enough to play when he can, along with all the other Fan’s favs up here( Novak, Roddick, Gulbis, Rafa, Davy,……uh wait……Davy? Wait a sec…….hell yeah! Let’s talk about Davy! LMAO!!) .

Yeah I read it. Not the greatest stretch but I can’t see Gulbis winning a slam. A title in Delray Beach isn’t exactly going to carry him to a US Open. Safin was different. He was a slam champion. Something Berdych, Gulbis, Gasquet, and Baghdatis are all far from.

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